Above

Samael | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 7, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nuclear Blast Americ
• ASIN: B001RGDW2E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,764 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

"At the dawn of the 90's, Samael emerged with their classic debut Worship Him, setting the foundation and defining the cutting edge of a whole new generation now known as the second wave of black metal. Over the past decade, the band have continued to eveolve, expanding their sound with eight more renown and internationally respected albums that total over 95,000 Soundscan Sales. With Above, the band take their sound back to their humble , raw beginnings with an album many are calling the missing link between early classics Ceremony Of Opposites and Passage, further proving how easily and effectively Samael can reinvent themselves. They will bring this renewed sense of raw intensity to North America as support to reunited legends Carcass this spring."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally...., April 9, 2009

By 

Dustin Peterson (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Above (Audio CD)

Samael used to make some of the best black metal. Everything from Worship Him to Passage (with Ceremony of Opposites as the peak) was amazing. Then, they started to do what a lot of bands do after being a band for a long time; they started getting "experimental". The short of it is, they essentially turned into Rammstein. For me personally, I didn't care for this change. It wasn't bad music, it just wasn't the Samael that I used to listen to and that really upset me. I would still buy their discs and ultimately I would feel sort of like I wasted money. On one album (Reign of Light) they even started turning into techno dance almost and that was pretty much the final straw. Solar Soul (their last album) was mediocre as well.

In their new album, Above, they finally decided to start making metal again. It's different metal than their old music, but still black as hell and still brutal. No techno dance pop...no rammstein-esque vocals...and plenty of operatic themes and crunching riffs. It's not the EXACT return to form I always hoped for, but it's close enough.

Thank you Samael...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars \m/ This record deserves a 6th star! \m/, April 30, 2009

By 

madFive (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Above (Audio CD)

Wow - It's actually something new in BlackMetal!

This record is definitely one to pick up if you like blast-beats - not so much if you want some bland electronic music like Samael's recent outings. I'm a huge blackmetal fan, and occasionally listen to some darker electronic music; been putting up with the last few records from these guys, but missed the greatness of their earlier work. They just completely redeemed themselves! I wasn't expecting this sound at all when I bought the record, but it ended up being the best surprise I've had in a new CD in ages! This one will be staying in my listening rotation for the foreseeable future.

The new sound mixes the semi-stale electronic sound of the last few records (ends up being some faint background ambience), the same vocal styling that has pretty-much always been black-metal sounding and was fairly out of place in the old electronic sound, and an incredibly heavy dose of old-school blackmetal blasting! The drums on this record are a huge highlight - insanely fast and technical; I am assuming the drums are all programmed, and they don't actually have a drummer that can play this fast, which makes the music all the more interesting (not much less so if he does physically play this fast). The guitars are a wash of perfectly distorted melody, while being the most cliché part of the record as far as the black-metal theme goes, they still have some great catchy melodies that keep the music flowing really well - I've even caught myself humming these melodies a few times in the past week. Add in some stop-on-a-dime precision and a perfect mix that makes every punch hurt and keeps the vocals in the background where they belong, and you have some extremely catchy songs that should seem like a real breath of fresh air to anyone who has been a little bored with the blackmetal coming out in the last few years.

\m/ I can't recommend this record enough. Buy it now. \m/

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars back to the roots, April 22, 2009

By 

Kaligula (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Above (Audio CD)

Murat definetly did his research.

Above is a combination of everything from SAmaels first album up to and including Passage. Fortunately it excludes the past few releases which were basically garbage.

While we may never hear the brutality of Ceremony again or the majesty of Eternal, Above combines these elements w/ some decent vocals although not the Ceremony type.

If you're anything like and passed opn the last 2-3 albums don't be fooled again, this album is worth a listen.